Labyrinth Princess
by Chasing Izanami
Summary: [TotA] Labyrinth crossover, AU. Natalia bands together with the eccentric subjects of the Goblin King to rescue her adopted brother. What's a girl going to do with a fairy, a wannabe bullfighter, and blind, old beggar?
1. Becoming Less Concerned

**Foreword:** I love Natalia. Sorry, if you don't. In regards to the connections with The Labyrinth, it's ninety percent plot, setting, and themes, not characters or David Bowie. Makes me sad, but that's how this crossover rolls. Just in case you haven't noticed, this is AU for both stories, and most canon is barely relevant.

**Spoilers:** Altogether, yes. This chapter? No. I'll be warning for anything relevant, besides character names.

**Disclaimer:** Tales of the Abyss isn't my personal _anything_, and I sure ain't making any dough off of this. Just a little fan, I am.

**Labyrinth Princess**

**-**

**1 :: Becoming Less Concerned**

In the middle of winter, it should have been _cold_. It should have been snowing, or something. But ninety degrees out, not to mention the murderous humidity? What the hell. There was something wrong, Natalia knew, but the world moved on without her.

Sweating the precious last drops of moisture out of her body, it had already become horribly evident that the overcrowded bus wasn't designed for the comfort of students. It was practically instinctual that Natalia would peel her sweater off, and even more base that the boys around her reacted with lewd hoots and whistles. She was actually puzzled for a moment, until she looked down.

Squealing with embarrassment, the girl pulled her shirt down and turned away. "Shut up! Ugh!" Even though she couldn't possibly get any redder in this heat, giving the guys in sixth period English a free show was enough to stay embarrassed forever. Passing up the urge to shrivel up and die, Natalia held her head against the window and dreamt of escaping this.

The fantasy to just up and fly away from the rest of the world was tempting. Absolutely outlandish, but tempting. Juvenile as it had to have been, she really enjoyed this field trip. Besides being few and far between, the play they saw was like an escape, somewhere that for a short time, there really were monsters and goblins and kings and queens, and nobody was there to hold her imagination down. A crumpled paper landed in her lap.

"Aah!" Natalia gasped, startled out of daydreaming. Of course, her first instinct was to make a frantic search for the person who threw it. The notoriously overachieving freshman next to her was nodding off, not that she blamed him, and the chatty girls one row back seemed much too absorbed in their own conversation. Her teacher was staring angrily at the boys in front; they weren't getting away with much, not like that. If it were anyone else on the bus, her guess was as good as anyone's. The thought of another one of these pranks was enough to make her shove the paper into the abyss that happened to be her jeans pocket, and quickly forgot about it. She forgot about the pen she used that morning for corrections, too, and it was pleased to finally have some company in its exile.

And for a while, it was quiet.

With all the advance warning of a single, piercing screech, everyone on the bus fell forward. The driver had slammed on the brakes— God knows why— but at least it woke Florian up, that little punk. More curious than concerned for any whiplash she might have sustained, Natalia sprung up to look through the window, morbidly curious at what the commotion was about.

"Nataliaaaa, you see anything?" Florian whined, bobbing his head around her shoulders. He still wasn't tall enough to see over them, the poor thing, but his behavior was downright annoying.

"I don't know. There's this white van parked in front of us, but I—"

"Whoa, a head-on collision!" The boy shoved her back into the seat, entirely too excited by the prospect of a car accident. Absolutely miffed, Natalia barely let go of the urge to tell him off right then and there. "Hey, where is it? I don't see anything!"

"It's right there! Look—"

"Florian! Sit down!" scolded one of the teachers, sending him into a frenzied scramble to obey. Shuddering slightly in his seat, Florian looked back at Ms. Cecille. "I didn't think you needed babysitting, but if you're going to misbehave..."

From what Natalia could see, the van _was_ gone.

- - -

For once, she was glad she didn't have to leave school on the bus. Fate had it that the 'rents would both be out of town for the weekend, and while any red-blooded American teen her age would be jumping with excitement, the prospect was something Natalia quite abhorred. She knew it wasn't safe for Luke to walk home from elementary school, and she knew what happened the last time he tried public transit on for size. Still, Natalia was not looking forward to escorting her brother home.

She wanted to get things over with. That little brat, the one her parents' world seemed to revolve around, was nowhere to be found. Her instructions were nothing short of specific, _"Wait in front of the office, Luke. Don't go anywhere, don't do anything, and stay by the steps. If I can't find you, you're just going to have to find your own way home."_

And yet, the child was nowhere to be found.

"Luke! Luke? This isn't funny! Cut it out!" Natalia could hear a soft, childish laugh coming from the bushed, and didn't doubt for a second that it was Luke thinking he was being funny, or something. Angrily approaching the hedges, she reached in impulsively, hoping to grab him by the collar.

The bushed pulled back. Cold, gritty little things dug into the back of her hand and wrist, reeling the girl in with all the expertise of a full-grown man. Bracing and digging her heels into the dirt barely made a difference. She screamed, and the bushes giggled back with ravenous glee.

"Natalia?"

At the advent of her brother's voice, it all stopped. The sudden lack of resistance sent her falling into the hedge; she barely caught herself, as her heart rate eased out of critical levels.

"Luke?" Natalia asked, too shaken to turn around and confirm it. "Did—You saw what just happened, tell me—_tell me you did_."

"Yeah."

"L-Let's go home. Before anything else happens, okay?"

As the siblings left the school's premises, two others plotted atop the building's roof, watching them intensely. Both strangely dressed, one was boy-like, the other pale and thin.

"Don't get any ideas, Reaper. She's the king's pick, you can't touch her," the smaller one warned, his tone undermining any prior notions of childishness. "We have to get both of them."

"I know, I know!" Reaper said, shrill and defensive. His fists stayed balled up in his pockets, at least for the meantime. "What are you getting from scaring them? This is stupid! He saw us, Sync, _he saw us!_"

"Don't be an idiot. It doesn't matter," Sync laughed, turning away. "Look, I'm busy. I can't stay here and babysit you, Reaper, so you better not screw up."

Glad that miniature terror wasn't facing his direction, the man's face contorted into a rebellious sneer. "I understand. Perfectly."

"Yeah, you'd better."

- - -

"No! Go to bed!" Natalia yelled, pushing Luke back up the stairs. "Just because Mom and Dad aren't home, it doesn't mean I'm letting you stay up late. Be a good boy for once!"

"Fine! But they're gonna come and get you, and I'm not gonna tell anyone. The monsters are gonna take you away, and I'm gonna have the house _all to myself_, and nobody's going to remember you when you're gone!" he screamed at her, purposely hitting a huge nerve with his sister. Despite her personal opinions of him, Luke _wasn't_ the type to be anywhere near this bratty. "You're trying to pretend nothing's wrong! You're just like Mommy and Daddy!"

"Just like—You little jerk! They already treat you like a prince, what else do you want?"

Stumbling up the last steps, he dashed into his room before Natalia could catch up. "I don't want anything!"

Storming back into the living room with a world-class urge for violence, the girl did little to piece together her brother's words. He was making things up again—monsters and goblins living in the house, what a crock—like he had since the very beginning. Being a brat, getting his way, lying and screaming... It was a vicious cycle, almost five years running. With little comfort left, Natalia flopped on the couch and groped around for the television remote. Maybe they'd have something about the weather.

Like shadows in the dead of night, the real danger crept upon her unnoticed. As she tried in vain to turn on the TV, a clamorous, shrill shriek demolished the relative silence. Luke, she thought, must have been having another nightmare. He could wake the neighbors with his screaming, on particularly bad nights, and at the very least, consistently prevented the household from attaining a good night's sleep.

Slowly, with a bit of dread, Natalia climbed the stairs for the umpteenth time. If it was a nightmare, she couldn't hope to pacify him. "Luke?" she called out, soft enough that if he'd fallen back asleep, as he sometimes did, she wouldn't wake him. There was no answer. Opening the door slowly, she asked again, "Luke?"

No response. She took a deep breath, and went in.

The first problem presented itself immediately. Luke's window was left absolutely agape, and while there was a pretty threatening drop between there and the ground, she couldn't help but wonder if Luke had gone and done something _stupid_. A cool wind buffeted her as she stepped closer; by the time she'd stopped at the windowsill, it felt like a full-blown tornado. The trees outside rustled and rattled like nothing she'd ever witnessed before, like the giggling bushes in the schoolyard magnified a thousand times. Of course, Luke was nowhere to be found.

"Wrong way," crooned a voice from behind her, one that when she turned around, must have come from the absurd-looking creature sitting in the chair at Luke's desk. It was right by the doorway, impossible to miss (even in the room's unlit state), and yet she was positive that whitish thing hadn't been there before. The wind weakened with its appearance, until it finally stopped, leaving nothing in the room disturbed.

"What—Who are you supposed to be?" Natalia yelled, raising her fists to her chest in frustration.

"Call me Reaper, _nothing else_. I'm the one who's taken your brother away, I'll have you know. You're not going to find him, even if you look everywhere in the world—He's already in Goblin City, how's that for efficiency!"

"It's pretty stupid," Natalia replied, slightly awestuck at Reaper's slip. "I mean, you just told me. That wasn't very smart of you at all."

"I—I did that on purpose!" he shrieked, frighteningly reminiscent of the creatures she'd heard twice before. "Your only hope is going there yourself, and I _know_ you don't want to do that. _I_ wouldn't want to do that."

"You're insane! Maybe you wouldn't, but it's Luke, and maybe...maybe you're just trying to throw me off!" Natalia exclaimed, with newfound determination. Whatever his intentions, Reaper's follies managed to bolster her resolve more than ever before. "I bet it's not that hard..!"

The creature laughed snobbishly, covering his mouth as if he had some small inkling of tact. He stood up, still grinning, "It's a deal! You foolish little girl, you; nobody wishes themselves into the Labyrinth!"

"Wait, what? I want to go to the goblin city, not into a labyrinth! Why would I do that?"

"Because you made a bet with an emissary of His Majesty, and you're obligated to keep it!" Reaper snapped his fingers at the open air, presumably signaling a very large, gaudy armchair to materialize in the middle of the floor. He smiled at her, before seating himself on it and continuing, "Say out loud, that you wish you were in the land of the Goblin King. Anything goes."

Natalia closed her eyes and steeled herself. "Then... I guess I better get started. I—I wish I was in the land of the goblin king. Right now."

Reaper laughed, and the air around her grew very cold.

- - -

**Also:** After replaying the game, I remembered that Rose was, in fact, a pre-existing character, and that it conflicted with the name I intended for Dist. Rather than confuse any further readers, I've decided to change this retroactively. Whenever else other characters are given pseudonyms, I'll do my best to inform you. Won't happen much.


	2. Versions Slightly Incompatible

**Foreword:** New faces. You probably won't be surprised. For those of you who might have not seen the previous chapter's edit, I managed to forget about the existence of the game's _actual_ Rose, waaay back in Engeve. Thus, chapter one's "Rose" has been retroactively changed to "Reaper". I humbly apologize for any confusion I've caused.

**Warning:** Another chapter in which nothing notable happens. But...no spoilers whatsoever!

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Tales of the Abyss. This work of fiction is making me absolutely no money. Please, be cool.

**Labyrinth Princess**

**-**

**2 :: Versions Slightly Incompatible**

"What are you standing there for? Mieuuuu?"

Natalia finally opened her eyes. She looked around in confusion—the dusky, orange skies and sprawling wasteland made it clear that she had since left Luke's room. Past the spartan bluff, there were inexplicably rocky, crater-filled expanses all around, with white metallic hunks scattered here and there, looking as if they had been weeds sprung right out of the ground.

Standing literally at her feet was the strangest creature she'd ever seen: blue, floppy-eared, with a golden wall clock tied haphazardly around its belly. She bent down to get a better look at the rat-thing.

"Did you...um...talk?"

Hopping up impatiently-- or it looked like it was trying to, because the clock was much too heavy for it to get off the ground—it continued its high-pitched speech, "I did! Miiieu, is that weird or something? I'm sorry..."

"No, no! It's just, um," Natalia said apologetically, still trying to cope with the idea of a talking "thing". "Well, I've never met anybody but people who talked, and you're kind of weir—different."

"I'm sorry," it whined, and Natalia felt earnestly sorry for the poor thing. "But Master said I have to tell you something, so I have to tell you!"

"Tell me what?"

"Tell you that you have less than thirteen hours left! You gotta hurry, or else!"

"H-Hurry? You mean I have a time limit?" Natalia was entirely taken aback; Reaper hadn't told her a single thing before sending her off on this little mission, nor about _consequences_, whatever they were. "And what are you talking about, 'or else'? You're not just trying to scare me, are you? I'm taking Luke back, you know!"

"Mieumieu!" the creature squealed. It kept repeating itself, for what genuinely _was_ at least a minute, if the clock was keeping its time correctly, horribly flustered by the blonde's outburst. "Mieuuuuuuuu!"

"I'm sorry! It's just... All of this is just making me really angry. Do you know anything about this at all? You have to help me," she pleaded.

"I don't know much, mieuuuu, but the man who gave me this was definitely a servant of the King! The people who go into the Labyrinth always get punished, but everyone knows _that_."

"Nobody ever told me," Natalia said dejectedly, admonishing her foolishness for having jumped into this so quickly. The little one cooed sympathetically, staring up at the girl as she rose back into a standing position.

"I can see the entire kingdom, I bet," Natalia mused, for when she took the time, the view from atop of the hill became nothing short of amazing. For miles, it seemed, stone labyrinth walls panned out, and in the center stood the most unbecoming, patchwork, put-together beast of a castle she had ever seen (even if all of such experiences had been with picture books and photos). The sheer enormity of the situation flooded in all at once, the fact that she could walk forever and never arrive, so much that her common sense almost went up and left her for good. Instead, those morbid thoughts imparted on her some reality, and the courage she needed to get off her duff and start moving.

Natalia fumbled through her pockets to find that troublesome scrap of paper, and by some boon, recalled the equally important red-ink pen. Standing at a magnificent vantage point, the girl wasn't going to let an opportunity pass her by; she was going to make a map of the damned thing, and she was going to _succeed_. Triumphantly digging them out of their hiding places, Natalia furiously scribbled an outline of the paths before her, sketching as many twists and turns as she could keep track of. The pen poked through the thin sheet more than once, bleeding ink onto the palm of her hand and giving the illusion of having braved some horrible fight. Of course, the battle had only just begun.

Satisfied with the path she traced back from the castle, Natalia turned back to check the clock. The map went back in her pocket for the moment; it wasn't as if this path wasn't clean-cut already. Of course, the watch, as well as the blue creature, was gone.

"No matter! It couldn't have been more than a few minutes, I guess," she said out loud, only to be answered by a multitude of high-pitched, sniggering laughs. This time, Natalia didn't try to place their location—it could have been anywhere, with the way this place seemed to work. "Just... Just quit it! It's getting old, and I'm not scared any more!"

"HEE, HEE, HEE! You OUGHT to BE!" it replied, in an utterly inhuman, wavering voice. "HEE! HEE!"

"Oh, tell me something I don't know!" Natalia scoffed, storming down the hill. Every little bit of time she spent with those things became more and more of a waste. It would have been nice if that little one had stayed, though.

"HEE-HEE-HE'S going to GET you!"

- - -

After a painfully long time spend hiking over and around the scattered debris, Natalia finally approached what looked to be the entrance. It was barely a gap among countless rows of sand-colored stone, and had she not made prior note of it, might have not found the place at all. She gave herself a mental pat on the back, and traipsed closer. She swore she heard _something_, like a shrill scream...a child's scream.

"Hello?" Natalia called out a few times, pacing back and forth in front of the walls. It sure didn't look like anyone was out here, but as fate would have it, the shrieking was getting louder and more frantic by the second. "Where are you? I can't help you if I can't see you..!"

"EEEER! 'VER EEEEEEER!" She could just barely make the words out, but for the first time, the girl had a concrete idea of where it was coming from. That is, from inside the labyrinth. Natalia ran in without a second thought.

Bad idea, that. As she turned the corner, the ground under her feet seemed to wobble and shake, like it might be unstable, or something—

"Rejected!" laughed something girlish, following the sound of a low "click". Natalia had almost tripped and stopped, and by that fortune, was able to catch a glimpse of an insectlike, shining thing hovering by the wall. It was a very small creature, dressed in pink and fluttering its translucent wings in front of a lever it must have just pulled.

The suspicions of it being a pixy or somesuch would have to wait; the floor under her trembled once more, before springing up into the air like a jack-in-the-box. The panel went flying, girl and all, soaring over at least one of the walls before Natalia closed her eyes and resigned herself to screaming.

"That wasn't nice, Anise," spoke another fairy, finally coming out of its hiding place between the stones in the wall. "She looked like a nice person."

"I know..." Anise said remorsefully, landing on a large piece of rubble. "But it's not like she was going to pay the toll anyway. I'm saving us time by sending her straight to the Goblin King's men, am I right?"

"Anise..."

- - -

For the sake of optimism, she decided that landing in a pool of water really wasn't that bad. Sure, she was soggy, and it was beginning to get cold out. But if her Physics teacher had taught her anything, it was that falling on lovely, dry ground could have gotten her killed. As long as she kept reminding herself that being alive was a good thing, the blonde was able to keep her resolve up.

Natalia hoisted herself out of the murky water and took a look around. As she wrung out the bottom of her t-shirt, she noticed that this barren expanse, while quite large, was still enclosed by the maze's walls. Behind her was an equally enormous—if completely dilapidated and overgrown with plant life—mansion, and the body of water she erroneously labeled a pool was apparently its moat.

Something ragged sat at the bottom of its steps, a motionless, pale, ill-looking man. On one hand, she was utterly afraid to approach anything that vile. On the other hand, it couldn't hurt...

"Hello?" Natalia called out, still far away on the other side of the moat. Best of both worlds. "Do you know where I am?"

He didn't so much as turn his head.

"Excuse me?" she said, walking closer to the manor's entrance, slowly crossing the feeble, wooden plank that seemed to be serving as its bridge. "Are you, um, okay?"

A cool breeze swept through, and while the man remained deathly still, the hair in front of his face was blown aside. His eyes were closed, behind a shabby pair of glasses. As Natalia got closer, she noticed that a film of dust seemed to have accumulated on his skin and clothing, and that even with flecks of gray and white in his hair, the man couldn't have been _that_ old.

"Sir," Natalia murmured, trying to discern any signs of life. Somehow, she had wound up less than five feet away from that destitute, caught up in morbid curiosity. She wouldn't touch him, she asserted, but she _had_ to resolve this. She leant towards him, inspecting, pacing around him at all angles. Though his ragged attire placed his status amongst the dingy and homeless, it could definitely be said that for a possible cadaver, the man smelt quite inoffensive. Natalia bent in, very close to his face, and asked one last time, "Hello? Are you alright?"

"Yes, thank you," he said, opening his eyes abruptly. Her sudden intake of breath disturbed the layer of loess much more than all his movements put together—the man's eyes were a bright, monstrous red.


End file.
